Author: Harald Schumann

Germany, Greece, Italy, Romania, Spain… and now France: over the last decade, many European Union member states have been subjected to profound labour law reforms. New laws were passed, allegedly, in the name of the fight against unemployment. But studies published since, including by the most liberal of institutions, are unanimous: their influence over a boost in employment has been minimal. The truth is, in fact, rather bruising: these new policies have resulted in soaring precariousness and a fall of wages.

The collapse of the negotiations for a new government gives the German political elite a second chance to avoid a capital mistake. Reform and democratisation of the EU could finally get the attention it deserves.

Detail of the article as published by Der Tagesspiegel. Illustration by Julia Schneider

Millions of Europeans in temporary, part-time or bogus self-employed contracts can only find insecure and badly paid jobs, despite the healthy economic climate. That is the price of deregulating labour markets, Investigate Europe reports. This precarious set of labour conditions was created intentionally. FULL ENGLISH VERSION

Since 2008 there were more than 400 labor law changes in the EU countries. But 4 out of 5 of the new jobs are either fixed-term or part-time. Deregulating may have boosted precarious contracts. And that’s being noticed in Brussels’ political cabinets.

The ECB, the European Commission and the IMF have all changed their speech: It is as if the 2017 troika criticizes the 2011 troika. Credit: Nuno Ferreira Santos (Publico archive)

Since 2008 there were more than 400 labor law changes in the EU countries. But 4 out of 5 of the new jobs are either fixed-term or part-time. Deregulating may have boosted precarious contracts. And that’s being noticed in Brussels’ political cabinets.

In the gig economy, a new class of precarious workers is emerging. The first ones are now beginning to defend themselves. And unions enter unknown territory. Publication in GERMAN via Der Tagesspiegel.

Detail of the article as published by Falter. Illustration: Jochen Schievink

Millions of Europeans in temporary, part-time or bogus self-employed contracts can only find insecure and badly paid jobs, despite the healthy economic climate. That is the price of deregulating labour markets. Published in GERMAN by Der Falter.

The euro is unstable because wages and inflation rates are developing unequally, a new study by the think tank Bruegel shows. And the Germans are to blame. If the euro zone disintegrates, it will happen because of German economic nationalism.

On May 12 hackers hit more than a hundred countries exploiting a stolen N.S.A. tool that targeted vulnerabilities of Microsoft software. The attacks infected only machines running Windows. Among the victims are public administrative bodies such as NHS hospitals in the UK. Investigate Europe spent months to investigate the dire dependency of European countries on Microsoft – and the security risks this entails. Read our full investigation in ENGLISH.

In an interview with Investigate Europe journalists Maria Maggiore and Harald Schumann, two Director-Generals of the European Commission, Roberto Viola (DG CONNECT) and Gertrud Ingestad (DG DIGIT), discuss the Commission’s policy on the use of proprietary vs open source software.

For ten years, a team of experts have worked to move the municipal computer system from the American IT giant Microsoft to open software. Not everything has run smoothly. But the transition is a huge success, declared the deputy mayor in 2014. Elsewhere in Europe, Munich also soon became the lighthouse for the open source community. Now mayor Dieter Reiter and his coalition want to return to Microsoft.

Throughout Europe, from Finland to Portugal, from Ireland to Greece, the information technology (IT) of public administrations is based on Microsoft programs. Munich for the last decade was a poster child of the open source movement. But the pressure to return to the Monopolist is high…Read more in GERMAN.

The European Union is planning comprehensive controls of its external borders. “Investigate Europe,” a team of journalists from eight countries, has uncovered: It is costing billions – but the only beneficiaries are the weapon and electronics industries. Read our main findings IN ENGLISH.

Investigate Europe

We, nine experienced journalists from eight European countries, are "Investigate Europe". We will research as a multinational team. We will share, merge and crosscheck facts – tackling the usual national bias. We will point out responsible transnational structures and actors in issues of European-wide relevance to make it possible to hold them accountable.